MP Slams Govt

Hon. Ras Mubarak, the former chief executive officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), has reacted to the mass dismissal of over 3,000 workers of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

Mr. Mubarak, who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu in the Northern Region, said, the recent dismissal of over 3,000 workers by government is “reckless, insensitive and completely lacking in economic sense.”

According to him, it is insensitive for a government that rode on the issue of youth unemployment to power could be dismissing workers on the mere perception of them being sympathetic to the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

For him, the action by government would not only increase the number of unemployment, but could further divide the nation, which is already polarized.

All the 10 regional directors, as well as directors of departments or modules of the YEA were recently asked to proceed on leave,

The directors, in particular, were individually given letters to embark on leave after a meeting with the new chief executive officer of the agency, Justin Kodua Frimpong, sometime in March, this year.

A copy of the letter sighted by The Republic said: “You are kindly requested to proceed on your 2017 annual leave effective Monday, 3rd April 2017, to 26th May, 2017.

“You are required to hand over all official documents and properties in your possession to the Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Operations) before you begin your leave.”

The letter further instructed the directors to report to the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the agency upon their return from leave for further directives.

But Hon. Mubarak, in an interview, told The Republic that, “The YEA is a state agency, the workers are employed as civil servants and their appointment could not be said to be political appointments.”

He lambasted the government for dismissing the YEA directors and others, stating “the government that anchored election campaign mantra on job, industry, factory and employment could not engage in these acts. Ghanaians looked forward to more jobs, employment opportunities and improved working conditions instead of disengaging the already demoralized workers.”

He condemned the government’s penchant for sacking thousands of workers as the only alternative to addressing unemployment issues facing the state.

“Choosing to sack thousands of workers and replacing them with party supporters as the only viable option to tackling the teeming unemployment base is unfortunate, senseless, uncharitable and divisive,” Ras Mubarak said.

The YEA, he noted, was established based on an Act of Parliament, and job security of employees is protected by the law.

He called on the government to look for alternative ways of dealing with unemployment rather than engaging in what he described as “old-fashion” politics which has the tendency of polarizing the country more than before.